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Thread: Leopard Stalking

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    Default Leopard Stalking

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    I have been away from BPN for a while due to a two week trip to Tanzania, followed by image editing and real work. This is the first African image from our trip. The leopard was walking toward our Land Rover; I shot from a low perspective out the window.

    1DMK4 with 500 f4 on bean bag. Evaluative metering at ISO 800 with f8 and 1/1000 EV +1 1/3. Cropped top vertical from horizontal. No noise reduction applied.

    Thanks for looking. C&C most welcome.

  2. #2
    Ken Watkins
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    I like this a lot, too my eye the Leopard's face is a little too light, but I may be wrong.
    One of the problems with "closed" vehicles is that you cannot get as low as you may wish, but this does not really matter too much here. I am intrigued as to why you used EV +1 1/3rd?

    Let's see some more!

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Firstly Ed I would totally agree with Ken's point, you need to be further away, or lower down to get a good POV that works. Sadly this perspective echos where you were in relation to the animal and with the 500 I would have thought two more steps and he would have filled the frame, or sat beside you.:)

    The 'tech's, you could have easily dropped to ISO400 and still had enough SS. My feeling at the moment is that if in theory the MKIV can shoot at a high ISO people do, why? The noise coupled with the a tad too much sharpening and +1 1/3 comp hasn't really help what could have been a good stock shot, of a superb animal.

    Perhaps Ed if you can revisit the file and look at the exposure, levels in PS it might help, but sadly the data in the RAW will not be there. Hope that there are more you can share.

    Steve
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    BPN Member Steve Maxson's Avatar
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    I like the head-on view and the open mouth is a plus, Ed. I would wish the the cat's head was tilted just a bit upward so we could see more of its eyes. A few tweaks might improve the image, IMO. The image looks a little oversharpened to me - particularly around the shoulders and back of the animal. I think you could crop a little off the top to emphasize the cat more and you might try darkening the whole image just a tad. :)

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    Agree with Steve Kaluski 100% . Appears to be the female from Seronera area...I've seen her, she's a pretty bold leopard who couldn't care less for humans. :)
    Last edited by Kiran Khanzode; 03-15-2010 at 07:45 PM.

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    Hi Ed,

    I like this image. I like the fact that the BKGR colours are similar in tone to the eye colours and the fact that the mouth is open. Getting an image of a Leopard in the open is an achievement on its own as that is not a given on a two week trip.

    I would have liked to see more direct eye contact, catching the leopard when its head was raised a little more.

    I cannot comment on the lightness or noise as I am not on my own computer screen currently.

    tfs

    Austin

  7. #7
    Todd Frost
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    Lovely cat Ed. Agree that image appears a bit bright. Can't comment on shooting conditions as I have not been there but she does look to be close. It would be satisfying to just get to see one of these let alone photograph it for me. TFS
    Todd

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    Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. I do agree the image looks bright when posted. I have looked carefully at the print and feel the web version is significantly brighter than the print. Perhaps it is time to recalibrate? Re the sharpening - I re sharpened after re sizing for web and have found this adds too much sharpening. Next time I will not do this step and see what happens.

    RE the angle - I was a s low as possible in the Land Rover. You are not allowed to get out; I was shooting through an open window as low as I could get. The leopard emerged from a tree and made an excursion across a part of the savanna with tall grass. We, along with other Land Rovers "chased" the leopard to try to get ahead of it for this view.

    The high ISO was a result of it being raining very hard just a bit earlier and the high ISO needed. I also wanted to ensure I had enough SS to stop any fast action - like leaping over grass - if it occurred.

    The relatively high EV was used as it moved the histogram to the right without causing any blinkies. As the Sun came out the grass acted like snow causing the evaluative metering to under expose. The positive EV compensated for this.

    So, I thank everyone for their input. You have made valuable suggestions and I do appreciate it. I just wanted to explain the situation a bit more.

  9. #9
    Ken Watkins
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    Ed,

    Thanks for your explanation, I hope you have more!
    I know all to well how difficult it is (if not impossible) to get a low angle. The only real answer is to find someting on a termite mound, this does not happen very often.

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